Another school year has ended and, with it, goes another tremendous, busy year in high-school sports.

This is the first in a two-part installment recapping the past year for varsity sports teams from Guilderland, Voorheesville, and Berne-Knox-Westerlo high schools.

The first part will recap the fall season while next week’s issue will review the winter and spring sport seasons.

It was a big year for boys’ sports at Voorheesville. The Blackbirds brought home sectional titles in three sports — soccer, basketball, and volleyball — and a Colonial Council title in another — baseball.

While basketball proved to provide the most consistent teams, the fall sports also provided numerous memories. The most memorable events include the Berne-Knox-Westerlo cross-country team’s winning the Class D state championship, the Voorheesville boys’ soccer team winning sectionals, and Guilderland sophomore Brian Rhodes-Devey winning the Section II cross-country championships.

Here is a sport-by-sport recap.

Cross-country

The cross-country teams in the area proved to be the best in the fall as Berne-Knox-Westerlo successfully defended its Class D Section II title and went a step further by winning the state championship in November at the Chenango Valley State Park.

The Bulldogs were led by Kris Geist, who will be running at Marist College this upcoming fall. Travis DeRusso, Andrew Godenzi, Tim Harrington, and Dennis Abele rounded out the top five runners for the Bulldogs.

It is the first state title for BKW in any sport.

Ada Lauterbach represented the BKW girls’ cross-country team at states. It was the first year Lauterbach has run cross-country and finished fifth at the Section II meet.

Brian Rhodes-Devey was the story for the Guilderland boys’ cross-country team. He won the Section II crown in 15:22.

Rhodes-Devey, a sophomore, overcame a bout with pneumonia during the season, but came back to win the sectional meet.

Seth Dubois also qualified for the state meet.

The Voorheesville cross-country team had three runners qualify for the state meet, its most in a number of years. Chantel Little and Hillary Edmunds represented the girls’ team and Mackey Lloyd represented the boys’ squad at the state meet in November.

The team was coached by Ken Kirik and had its most success in recent years.

However, Kirik was let go by Voorheesville as coach in the spring, based on a recommendation by the district’s athletic director Joseph Sapienza.

Kirik met with Dr. Alan McCartney, the school’s superintendent, and was told he would not be brought back as coach. No reason was made public.

Kirik was a teacher and founded the cross-country and track programs at Voorheesville.

Soccer

The Voorheesville boys’ soccer team walked off Colonie High School’s field as Class B Section II champions after beating Taconic Hills by a score of 4-1.

It was the first sectional title for the Blackbirds since 1993.

Voorheesville lost to Westhill of the Syracuse area in a match that was decided by penalty kicks.

The Blackbirds were led by senior Phil Venditti in the midfield and junior Greg Klopfer at forward.

Matt Miller was a key on offense as well for Voorheesville and Tom Cavanaugh was solid in goal.

The Blackbirds graduate defenders Venditti, Ben Keller, Zak Fluster, and Jeff Abrey, and midfielder Bruno Silva.

The Voorheesville girls’ soccer team ended its season earlier than it would have liked. The Lady Blackbirds lost in the Class B quarterfinals to Cairo-Durham, 2-0.

Voorheesville graduated seven seniors from the team including Sara Dimmitt, Caity Fiero, Alex Fish, Liz Gorka, Eva Levingrub, Megan Maikoff, and Lauren Mathews.

The Blackbirds will return a number of players who got experience last fall.

The Guilderland boys’ soccer team finished the season with a trip to the Class AA Section II quarterfinals, losing a hard-fought 1-0 game to Shaker, who was the top-seeded team in the tournament.

The Dutchmen beat Christian Brothers Academy in the first round of the tournament.

Guilderland was led by seniors Gavin DuGuay, Andrew LaPietro, Mark Malamood, Justin Lafaro, Byran Puspurs, Jon Tuttle, and Kevin Zimbal.

The Guilderland girls’ soccer team lost to eventual state champion Shenendehowa, 3-1, in the Class AA sectional playoffs.

The Lady Dutch beat Colonie, 2-0, in the first round of the playoffs.

Guilderland was led by seniors Deanna Wachtel, Ashley Pezze, Kristen Ermides, and Lindsey Gillis. The Lady Dutch also got terrific seasons from underclassmen Bianca Germain, Jen Mihok, Lynn Tran, Kayla Best, and Sam Ruppenthal.

The soccer season came to an abrupt end for the Berne-Knox-Westerlo boys’ team when coach Jim Gillis took his team out of the playoffs due to behavioral issues.

The Bulldogs forfeited to Salem, ending the BKW careers of seniors Sam Carlson, Matt Gipp, Marty Hawkes-Teeter, Matt Mulson, Sean Wolfe, Kyle Rossback, Duncan Schanz, and Jacob Udell.

Injuries and illness hurt the BKW girls’ soccer team in the fall and the Lady Bulldogs did not qualify for the Section II tournament.

BKW was a young squad, with only five seniors: Sammy Aveyard, Jody Baumstein, Melissa Lounsbury, Alicia Murray-Craig, and Marissa Tanner.

Mariana Bartonicek and Cara Swain were the top scorers for the Bulldogs.

Football

The Guilderland football team tried to give coach Pete Schwan a winning season in its last game of the fall. It was Schwan’s last season as coach. He stepped down in the winter and assistant Dan Penna was hired to replace him.

But the Dutchmen fell short in a 7-6 loss to Christian Brothers Academy. It was the second year in a row the Dutch lost a close game that would have given the team a winning record.

Guilderland was close to qualifying for the playoffs but lost to Niskayuna, 23-20, knocking them out of contention in the last week of the regular season.

The bright spot for the Dutchmen was the running of senior Chris Paratore. Paratore, who will play at Wagner College in the fall, became the second Guilderland player to rush for over 1,000 yards. He finished the campaign with 1,005 yards.

The Dutchmen were also led by senior quarterback and linebacker Josh Miller, who will play at St. Lawrence next fall and lineman Joey Wyld, who will also play football in college.

The Voorheesville football team had its season come to an end with a loss in the first round of the Class C playoffs. The Blackbirds lost to eventual champion Schuylerville, 38-16.

The Birds finished with a 4-5 record after losing to Greenwich in the last game of the season.

Voorheesville was led by running back Michael Ashline, who will be going to Ithaca College in the fall.

There were 11 seniors on the team including Ashline. Adam D’Arpino, Paul Blanchard, and Keith Edwards will graduate from the line. Receivers Chris Hensel and Chris Nelson will also graduate.

The Blackbirds do return quarterback Andy Catellier and tight end Nick Duncan.

Tennis

The Voorheesville tennis team also had a lot of success as they won the Class B Section II championship by beating Chatham, 6-1.

The Lady Blackbirds were led by top singles player Lauren Liberty. Lexi Burtman, Michelle Pelersi, and Allie McArdle won their singles matches at the sectional final.

Abigail Badger also played singles for the Blackbirds. The doubles teams were Alex Childs and Laura Watson and Nazely Kurkjian and Jackie Daley.